The present invention relates to a setting agent of fats and oils, fats and oils prepared by adding the same, and food comprising the fats and oils. More specifically, it relates to fats and oils in which the hardness of the fats and oils is freely adjusted by adding the setting agent of fats and oils to a raw material, and food comprising the fats and oils.
Conventionally, in order to set fats and oils, there have been known a process comprising raising their melting points by hydrogenation or the like, a process comprising adding a hardened oil, and the like.
In the case of the conventional method for setting fats and oils by hydrogenation, unsaturated fatty acids in the fats and oils are changed to saturated fatty acids, whereby the melting points of the fats and oils become high along therewith. Therefore, the resulting fats and oils are not easy to handle, and when used in food, there arises such problems as a decreased meltability in the mouth. Also, because the setting of fats and oils by hydrogenation is carried out by the addition of hydrogen to double bonds in the fatty acids constituting fats and oils, the fatty acid composition of the fats and oils is completely different from that of the original ones. As the fatty acids constituting the fats and oils, there can be cited fatty acids which are appreciated with high values as their nutritional components, such as xcex1-linolenic acid, xcex3-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. Since these fatty acids undergo changes in the chemical structure owing to setting of fats and oils by hydrogenation, their nutritional values owned by the original fatty acids may be lost in some cases. In addition, when hydrogenation is carried out, the level of LDL cholesterol, which has an adverse effect on the human body, increases, while the level of HDL cholesterol, which has favorable effects on the human body, decreases, as a result of trans-transposition of double bonds, and trans-fatty acids, which are likely to promote cardiac coronary arteriosclerosis, are further formed. Therefore, the set fats and oils may in some cases be inappropriate to be used as a food component.
In the case of the conventional process of adding hardened oil, since it is required to blend the hardened oil in an amount of 20% by weight or more, the purity of the fats and oils may be drastically lowered.
The present inventors have found that an ester of a fatty acid having 20 or more carbon atoms has an action for setting fats and oils and is effective in solving the problems of the setting agent of fats and oils comprising such an ester owned by the prior art, and that it is more effective in the adjustment of the setting conditions of the fats and oils when the polyglycerol fatty acid ester of which HLB is 3 or less and/or the sucrose fatty acid ester of which HLB is 3 or less are further used in combination therewith, and thus completed the present invention.
Specifically, one embodiment of the present invention provides a setting agent of fats and oils comprising an ester of a fatty acid having 20 or more carbon atoms; another embodiment of the present invention provides fats and oils prepared by adding the setting agent of fats and oils to a raw material for fats and oils; and a still another embodiment of the present invention provides food comprising the fats and oils.